1 more Year to Thirty
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Arsenal vs. Manchester
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Someone is 29!! Here are the highlights:

Still young at heart the night before his b-day:)

And here's what a 29 year old looks like:

Until he gets into his cups that is:

Happy Birthday Stephen! (And P.S: don't eat 2 deep dish pizzas for lunch, and expect to be able to eat a large Dominos pizza for dinner as well. Especially not when you have also eaten a bag of licorice candy, and pack after pack of Fizzles)

Hip Hip Horay
Mood:  celebratory
Now Playing: Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music
Topic: Stephen Says
Elisabeth has once again reminded me why I love & married her and sorted out those theiving turd-monkeys over at Dell. It looks like, at long last, they're going to give us back our 381.88 pounds. I'm aware that we probably haven't really blogged about the whole Dell stupidity but it's been so infuriating and soul destroying that, up until this minute I haven't been able to deal with the issue in public without spazzing out. Big time.

I doubt I'll be at the bookstore much longer either; I've received my background check that has confirmed that I have no prior of pending criminal convictions and that I am not a threat to at-risk adults. So the good news is that I'll be starting my 'real' job soon. The bad news is that my street cred is ruined.

So with that in mind, I'll tell a story or three:

"I'm looking for a book. I don't know it's title or it's author but it's about bees."
"Is it a children's book?"
"No."
"Is it fiction? Natural history?"
"I don't know. Look, it's been featured on the television. It's been written about in the papers!"
"If you can tell me which papers or channels, I can look it up."
"Well how should I know which one's!"

Or how about this one?

"I'm looking for a map and I won't order one. I need to see it before I buy it. It's a map of Egypt. More specifically, Alexandria. ... Well?"

Or how about this one? (Granted, it's a blast from the past but I must obey The Rule of Three.)

"You HAVE to sell posters of horse anatomy! You sell books about horses, after all!"

I must be getting old
Now Playing: Some tacky Fats Waller wannabe show music
Topic: Stephen Says
Or else I'm not sleeping enough. This morning I washed my face with hair gel by accident. Elisabeth is cooking a quiche for tomorrow as I type. The benefits of going to the pub with your co-workers on a Friday night: another week or two at the bookstore. One would think that would mean more money, but Barclay's bank won't get involved in the whole afair of Dell charging me almost 400 pounds for some non-existant repairs. I'm desperate - does anyone have any advice? The only people who I can ever seem to talk to are call centre jockeys in India who don't give a rats ass about my problems. Tomorrow E&I are going to try a tri-pronged attack with me going after the bank and her going after Dell but, uh, my advice to all you computer users out there is DELL SUCKS. BOO DELL YOU CHEAP MONEY GRUBBERS. (Sorry; I'm trying to influence the ads at the top out the page.)

Bluh. I don't have anything to say - just wanted to blog. Elisabeth is the reigning blog queen at the moment.

Filo Pastry Blues
Mood:  sad
Now Playing: BBC 4
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Stephen is quite upset because Pilsbury is an arsehole Filo Patry supplier b/c while they only fill the packages with 6 sheets, the filo pastries we usally get from Waitrose have 20 sheets. Now our dinner will most certainly split apart. "Split apart, it's already fuckin' slipt apart" ie..our dinner will be ruined exponentially.

Also, he's had a nosebleed today after our trip to the pub....

But before all of this mayhem, we had a wondeful stroll to the Bridge Barn Pub and had a couple pints, whilst planning our trip back to north america.

Basically, so you all can be told at the same time...we are now planning to make a trip at Christmas-tyme. "Until we find those blue scissors, my nose hair is going to keep growing longer and longer. Fuck, fuck, all filo pastry's cunts." That's is what Stephen is feeling right now.

{Erm, Stephen here - I'm doing my impression of our yob neighbour, replacing filo pastry with his usual hit list of victims which include his wife, child and any race he deems below his scrawny, homely, inbred character. Um, which only leaves real estate agents & landlords as far as I'm aware...}

Ok--so basically because the Westbergs (Elis's fam) is having Christmas this year, we will be making the trip over in Dec. anyway. So we figure, why come in Sept. and Dec? Big waste o' money that we don't have. So we will be coming in Dec. We will probably fly into MTL, and then make our way to T.dot. From there we will travel to Wisconsin to the seminary (where my family is) and then backtrack to MTL for New Years and fly away. So...what we want to know is where YOU will be in Dec. so we might begin to arrange to visit you!

{Stephen here again: This also means that lots of funds are now freed up so we can visit my sister & her beau in Marseille and Mark & Dr. J in Berlin, later on this year. Effin' Eh!}

And while you're musing over the possibilities, here's a picture of spring in Woking:

Friday night Live!
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: Neko Case-Blacklisted
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
I'm scrapping brownie from a knife with my teeth, and then washing it down with white wine. I just felt my teeth tingle with approval (or was it the opposite...I know it's been over six months but...)

And like I promised, I bought some Chardonnay...5.99 pounds, marked down from 7.99...and just so that no body thinks I wasted my money, I thought I ought to prove what kind of value for money I got:



So it's the end of the week...what are you doing this weekend? Hopefully someone has plans to a) Go out drinking with friends b) Going on a trip somewhere (anything that's not in your post-code counts) or c) Going out to see, hear, or do anything. Please unveil your social calender to the Allins, so we might live vicariously through you.

The reason is that Stephen is working all of Saturday, and Sunday we like to just relax at home. Nothing wrong with that, but boy sometimes do we wish you all were here.

There is a gorgeous cat outside on the wall:

And I'm going to go read more of Phillip Pullmans' The Amber Spyglass, which made me cry on the train today (I'm in the middle of the third book for anyone out there who's read-em.) I am enchanted with this trilogy. It really strikes a chord inside.

And now for some political commentary:

Terry Schiavo: Look, I havnt' been able to bring myself to keep up to date on this story, hoping that sometime soon it could rest in peace... I believe it is not natural to use science to defy the call of death for years on end. I also believe its blatantly hypocritical of pro-lifers and fundamentalists to suddenly back technology as a stand in for God. Again, I havn't been keeping up with the news stories really, but it strikes me that the issue here is not over this woman, or the debate whether or not it is correct to keep people on life-support indefinitely, but rather, it seems to be about who has more of a right over a person's life: the parents, or the spouse.

Is that over-simplifying things?

But think about it, the real horror of this newstory, is this family ripped apart--the parents loosing a daughter, the husband loosing a wife. Then the media pours acid in the wounds.

But when it comes down to knowing best what somebody else wants, I honestly don't think parents are ever the best candidate for the job. As hurtful as that feels for parents, it is true. A partner/lover/spouse on the other hand is in a relationship of equality (hopefully) and intimacy (hopefully). Over an issue like life & death, how many times do you think a partner is going to make the wrong decision for the person they are in love with? Maybe I'm way off the mark here...

ANOTHER ISSUE: the world's natural resources

I am getting scared my friends. I do not like all these reports coming out once again to try and convince all the greedy assholes out their that their lifestyles are unsustainable for a future.

I find have children a matter of moral responsibility to HAVE them, then to NOT have them.

I find this idea is difficult for anyone over 45 years of age to understand, but probably because they are not affected, and neither will their children.

In the end, we must all be prepared for the worst. For in how many articles do they offer information as to what can be done, and how you can help now. Very few. I can only hope that nature will take its own recourse, and if that means natural disasters to wipe out millions, but the end result is a balance eco-system again, than I say so be it. I would rather die knowing that the world will correct itself, than to go on child-less, or living with the knowledge that my children and grandchildren will face hardships that they were never responsible for.

ok--I am going to finish the rest of the wine. Maybe Stephen will be home soon....

ciao

Honey I'm Home
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: Stephen's Star Wars Trivia
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
I am surprised to be home right now, and in fact I was home by seven with Chinese takeaway b/c the meeting finished early, gasp! So don't cry for me...but I will still be home early with a bottle of chardonnay tomorrow.

Oh yeah...and more book-token fiascos today at the bookstore...

Hi folks, Stephen here. Look'it! I drew a pitcher. We went and got us some art supplies and I can draw again. Welcome to my subconscious:

I came up with a really good name for it but then I forgot it so I'll try to remember it, though I think it'll stay forgotten.

Mid-Week Update
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: They Might be Giants -Lincoln
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Hey y'all,

So far this week:

Stephen has been disappointing customers who are trying to use out-dated book-tokens...a surprising number have come into the bookstore this week. He discovered today the reason why his new job has not started yet: they only today posted the references. Luckily Stephen was in charge of the post today...

For me, there's a big product meeting tomorrow where the company reviews which products are definitely discontinued, as well as select new products to be introduced in the fall. This has involved a lot of sourcing, and it will probably take 10 hours to go through all the selections tomorrow. While I only got home at 8pm tonight, tomorrow may be more like 10pm.! Crazy... I am going to buy a big ol' bottle of Chardonnay and a fruit pie on Friday, and soak in the tub while Stephan mingles with his co-workers at the pub...in hounour of their departing manager.

I finally received the fruit of my labour today, which means that I can now ride the train without dipping into my over-draft...my bicycle blew a flat tyre! Luckily it was only on a leisure ride to Woking park, and not somewhere along the 7 miles between here and Innova.

And really, They Might be Giants just sum everything: "He wants a shoe horn (the kind with teeth), because he knows there's no such thing."

Psyche!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Bjork: Vespertine
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
Once again Stephen and Elisabeth have failed to live up to their own predictions, and never made it to the Canal Festival. We apologize to all those funny photo lovers, who were waiting on edge to see British Canal Folk.

Our excuse is that when we went to the canal, there weren't any boats, and then the weather was overcast, and we were quite happy just to stay indoors.

So what have we been doing over this Easter weekend?

Friday: Elisabeth got new glasses. Nobody has posted any comments, so I'm not sure if anyone else is as excited as I am...these are the glasses of my DREAMS! They are black plastic with sparkles all over! Then we saw an insane Easter show at the mall food court, rented some movies: The Mystery Men, Some Like it Hot (surprisingly disappointing), and Elephant.

Saturday: Stephen had to work, so Elisabeth cleaned the apartment, did laundry, brought Stephen's packed lunch to eat with him on his lunch break, and grocery shopped. Then she made a zucchinni goasts cheese quiche, and banana loaf, all washed down with a yummy Spanish wine.

Sunday: We again didn't follow our original plan to go to church, so we had pancakes, easter eggs (yes Stephen hid them for me-but our apt. is so small it really wasn't difficult) and read in bed most of the day. I then made one of our favorite meals: Leek, goats cheese and roasted red pepper lasagne...washed down with some more red wine.

Monday: Stephen is at work again, and Elisabeth is going to have a creative day (so she thinks). I've bought an assortment of tissue paper which I am cutting into shapes, and trying to make neat patterns with. Then there's the Vogue 2004 project which involves cutting out each months trends, and fashion quirks, and then comparing them all together in a kind of collage-y thing.

I need to clean my bicycle today, but it's the kind of thing that easily gets put aside.

To make up for things, Stephen has taken the camera to work, to try to capture the Mad Hatter who is roaming the mall today. So stay tuned!

Don't be Afraid of a Chick in Shades
Mood:  cool
Now Playing: Virgin Radio Best Party Songs
Topic: Elisabeth's Entries
NEW GLASSES!!!!

Get Your War On!
Mood:  caffeinated
Topic: Stephen Says
I've got to get to the bookstore soon, but here's a link to keep y'all entertained as we gear up for the long weekend (That I'm mostly working through) and the super-dee-duper canal festival. And if you like that page, there are 44 more just like it for you to look at!